The senior general at the Pentagon issued a warning on Wednesday, saying that any Chinese strike on Taiwan would be a ‘strategic mistake’ on par with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley, “I think it would be unwise, it would be a political, geopolitical, a strategic mistake, similar to what the strategic mistake that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has made in Ukraine.”
Milley made no mention of an impending attack on the democratically self-governing island.
However, he stated that he thought Taiwan’s unification with China was a top priority for President Xi Jinping of China, who had won a historic third term as the nation’s paramount leader, was a “rational actor.”
The Chinese military would suffer a strategic setback if they launched an attack on Taiwan in the near future, Milley told reporters.
“I think he evaluates things on cost, benefit, and risk, and I think that he would conclude that an attack on Taiwan in the near future would be an excessive amount of risk,” he said.
According to Milley, that would halt China’s ascent to the position of the world’s leading economic and military power.
He said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, which was thwarted by unexpectedly resolute Kyiv defences armed with Western weapons, provided instructive lessons.
Also Read: ‘Terrorist elements’ shoot at protestors in Iran, five dead
“One of the things people are learning is that war on paper is a whole lot different than real war,” said Milley.
“When blood is spilled, and people die, and real tanks are being blown up, things are a little bit different. There’s a lot of friction and fog and death in combat,” he said.
He pointed out that since battling the Vietnamese in 1979, the Chinese military had not engaged in combat.
(with inputs from agencies)
